ZAMBIA has for years been a favourite of investors based on
its political stability, but sometimes, like at the present, the environment weighs
in, reminding us who’s really king.

The southern African country will in October and November
enter its hottest months, further compounding a drought that has seen water
levels at its Lake Kariba dam, the world’s largest man-made reservoir, drain
steeply, to immense alarm.

The reservoir, which sits astride its border with Zimbabwe, supplies 1,800 megawatts of power at peak capacity. But last month, the dam was
only 40% full, itself less than half what levels were one year ago, according to a Bloomberg news wire report.

The resulting damage has been major: households struggle with load-shedding
that stretches up to eight hours, while mining companies have been asked to
curb demand by at least a third, hurting an industry that accounts for 12% of the Zambian
economy and which has seen prices and demand for its mainstay copper take the
plunge.

The dam’s low levels is also bad news for struggling
Zimbabwe, highlighting the importance of energy to Africa’s growing economy,
where despite frantic efforts over 500 million Africans are still expected to
be left off-grid.

Mail & Guardian Africalooked at a few more facts about Africa’s energy use:

1: Zambia’s discomfort is acute for the reason that 99.65%
of its energy comes from hydropower, the highest dependence in Africa after
Mozambique, which relies on dams for 99.88% of its energy, according to the World Bank.
But
with Mozambique set to become Africa’s biggest producer of natural gas in
coming years, Zambia will soon become the most dependent, unless it can also
find alternatives.

2: Algeria is the country that produces the highest
proportion of its energy from natural gas—92.4% in 2012, according to the
International Energy Agency. Nigeria, which produces 50% of its electricity
from gas, Egypt (75%), Ivory Coast (67.5%) and Gabon (40.5%) round out the top
five. Globally, Bahrain, Qatar and Turkmenistan meet completely all of their energy needs from
gas.

3: Oil is increasingly getting a bad name, but it has been a
mainstay for Eritrea, which generates 99.4% of its energy from the fossil fuel—the highest proportion globally.

4: An Eritrean consumes the lowest energy of any
nationality globally—an American consumes 55 times more, and a citizen of Qatar, one of
many popular destinations for its migrants, uses 135 times more energy than an Eritrean over the
course of a year.

5: Another fossil fuel that has a smoky reputation is coal. But
for Botswana, which has an estimated 35 billion tonnes of the resource, (the
government puts it at 212 billion tonnes), it is critical—100% of its energy
needs come from coal—the highest proportion globally. South Africa, the second highest on the continent, derives about 94% of its power from coal.

6: But Botwana has the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per
unit energy use—in 2012 it wrung $13.8 from a kilogramme of oil equivalent,
making it the the most efficient in Africa, and fifth most efficient globally. Globally, Hong Kong is the most efficient, getting $24.6 from the same quantity.

7: The DR Congo is the least efficient, managing only $2.2
of GDP per unit energy use, ahead of Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Mozambique (all
$2.5).

8: As would be expected, South Africa is Africa’s largest
producer of energy, at 163 million tonnes of oil equivalent (the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil), placing it 17th
in the world. Algeria (146 million tonnes of oil equivalent) and Egypt (88
million tonnes) are the only other African countries ranked among the top 30—a
list headed by China.

9: South Africa is also Africa’s largest consumer of
energy, according to the World Bank, consuming 141 million tonnes of oil—China,
its largest trading partner and the global leader, consumes 20 times more
energy. Nigeria consumers 118 million tonnes of oil equivalent, ahead of
Egypt’s 78 million tonnes of oil uptake.

10: African countries make up three of the top five lowest
net importers of energy—and as expected, all three are crude producers:
Republic of Congo, Gabon and Angola. Put differently, they export all of it and tap renewables instead—the Congo produces just 0.7% of its electricity from oil, but 60% from hydro, whlle Angola’s dam power is 70% of its energy mix.